EGYPT’S cabinet held crisis talks yesterday as police fought to contain street violence that left at least five people dead over the weekend.

Tear gas and rubber bullets were fired at protesters angry at the army’s stranglehold on the government.

In scenes not witnessed since the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak, Cairo’s Tahrir Square became a battleground.

Metal barricades were erected on approach roads and tents that protesters had spent the night in were burned.

A spokesman for government – which took over when Mubarak was toppled in February – said the talks were needed to “calm down the street” before Egypt’s first elections which are due to go ahead next Monday.

Violence flared on Saturday when demonstrators repeatedly charged police but were beaten back with clubs and rubber bullets.

One man was shot dead in Cairo and another in Alexandria.

Doctors said three men were killed yesterday as more than 5,000 protesters in Tahrir Square refused to move.